Jörn Rüsen

Dieser Sammelband, der sich grundlegenden Fragen - nicht nur der Alten Geschichte - widmet, ist ein gelungenes Beispiel dafür, welche fruchtbaren Beiträge, die sowohl in die eigene Disziplin reichen als auch weit in andere hineinwirken, gelingen, wenn interdisziplinäre, zum Teil auch eng an die oft geschmähte, weil programmatisch ausgerichtete Drittmittelforschung gebundene, Forschergruppen zusammenwirken.

"The papers collected in this volume move from the abstract scheme of an intercultural humanism of the future to the concrete cultural express ions of different times up to the present. They concentrate mainly on three issues. The first is related to contemporary attempts to develop a humanist and historical hermeneutics of the Qur{u2019}an and of Islamic history. The second concerns the discussion about the humanist heritage and the humanitarian trends of Muslim religious and literary culture, and their significance for the history of Islamic Studies in Europe and merica. The third presents a case study on contemporary challenges to the European humanist position towards Islam posed by political communalism in Europe. In all of them, different concepts of humanism and their application are discussed. Taken together, they are appropriate to provide some ground for further productive discussions on the future of an intercultural humanism with respect to the Muslim world."--P. of cover.

"What is history - a question historians have been asking themselves time and again. Does "history" as an academic discipline, as it has evolved in the West over the centuries, represent a specific mode of historical thinking that can be defined in contrast to other forms of historical consciousness? In this volume, Peter Burke, a prominent "Western" historian, offers ten hypotheses that attempt to constitute specifically "Western Historical Thinking." Scholars from Asia and Africa comment on his position in the light of their own ideas of the sense and meaning of historical thinking. The volume is rounded off by Peter Burke's comments on the questions and issues raised by the authors and his suggestions for the way forward towards a common ground for intercultural communication."--BOOK JACKET.